This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 198 45 892.4, filed on Oct. 6, 1998, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a mobile bridge or dock structure allowing an unobstructed access to the exterior of an aircraft fuselage and to the doors of a stationary aircraft, in order to facilitate installation and maintenance work on or in the aircraft, as well as the access of persons and/or goods into or out of the aircraft fuselage.
It is generally known in the art to provide bridge, dock or scaffolding structures (generally called bridge structures herein) that can be movably positioned relative to the fuselage of a stationary aircraft, and particularly a multi-deck large capacity commercial aircraft. Such bridge structures are especially used during the construction and/or outfitting of a passenger aircraft in an assembly hangar or the like, in order to facilitate the performance of various assembly, equipping and outfitting procedures by workers, while providing the greatest possible unobstructed access to the exterior areas of the fuselage as well as free unobstructed access into the interior of the fuselage. Such a bridge structure can also advantageously allow for the entry or exit of persons into or out of the aircraft, as well as the loading or unloading of goods into or out of the aircraft while it is stationarily parked.
Generally, the conventional bridge structures comprise platforms carried by apparatus that stand on the ground or are otherwise supported on the ground and can be moved into position adjacent the aircraft fuselage. Additional ground-supported access arrangements are also known, for example providing work platforms at several levels. It is also known to provide work platforms that are movably supported from the ceiling of an assembly hall or painting hall, for carrying out particular work such as painting, adjustments, and repairs on the exterior of the aircraft fuselage. Such ceiling-supported work platforms can be controllably moved into the proximity of the respective required various external areas of the fuselage skin. It is also known to use rigid and fixed arrangements such as multi-level scaffolding or platforms that are fixedly supported on the ground or floor of a maintenance or assembly hangar or the like in order to facilitate various assembly or outfitting operations on or in the aircraft fuselage. To use such fixed platforms or scaffold arrangements, the aircraft fuselage or individual fuselage sections are moved into position relative to the fixed platforms or scaffolding and are then secured in position.
Present conventional arrangements that allow the unobstructed access to many doors or other areas of the aircraft, especially in connection with large aircraft having a correspondingly large height above the ground or correspondingly large spacing distances relative to fixed platforms or work decks, all suffer serious disadvantages. Also, the conventional procedures that are necessary for moving such arrangements into position and then later removing these arrangements from the aircraft for the docking and undocking of the aircraft fuselage similarly give rise to disadvantages. For example, these conventional systems all require rather high manufacturing costs, a considerable expenditure of time and effort for the docking and undocking procedures, a high loading capacity of the floor of the hangar or maintenance hall in which they are installed due to the high weight of the arrangement, and highly developed transport systems as well as a rather smooth floor surface to allow the known arrangements to be moved into position and then again retracted for the docking and undocking procedure with respect to the aircraft fuselage.
Published European Patent Application 0,626,339 (Albert Landes-MERO-Raumstruktur GmbH and Co.) discloses an arrangement based on an overhead crane that carries a lowerable working platform structure. A vertically positioned guide beam hangs downward from and is supported by the crane trolley or carriage that runs along the overhead beam of the crane, and a stroke shaft is vertically movable up and down without rotation along the guide beam. The stroke shaft carries and selectively moves one or more working platforms which are thus vertically and horizontally as well as rotatably movable on the stroke shaft. This arrangement is used especially for aircraft maintenance procedures such as the above mentioned painting, adjustment and repair procedures. However, such an arrangement is rather complicated and costly, and does not provide continuous simultaneous access to large areas of the aircraft fuselage, and therefore is not suitable for facilitating the construction, installation and outfitting of a passenger aircraft fuselage under construction.
German Patent Laying-Open Document 44 20 502 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,704 (Landes) disclose a docking arrangement especially for maintenance and overhaul operations to be performed on an aircraft fuselage. The arrangement includes two side dock parts that are respectively carried by an overhead crane to be movable along the exterior of the aircraft fuselage. A bridge is provided to selectively provide a locking connection between the two dock side parts when the two side parts are moved close to each other in their working position relative to the aircraft. Such an arrangement suffers similar disadvantages as the arrangement of European Patent Application 0,626,339 discussed above.
PCT International Patent Publication WO 96/00166 discloses a maintenance dock arrangement including several dock segments that are suspended and lifted by lifting equipment into positions adjacent and along an aircraft fuselage. The docking segments respectively form bridges or bridge catwalks that extend horizontally and parallel relative to each other on opposite sides of an aircraft fuselage, in parallel to the lengthwise axis of the aircraft fuselage. The lifting equipment requires a complicated combination of various lifts and cranes that are movably supported on the floor or hanging from the ceiling of the maintenance hangar. Such an arrangement generally suffers the disadvantages discussed above.
German Patent Laying-Open Document 1,756,763 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,846 (Jacobson) disclose an arrangement including a plurality of working decks or platforms that are movably supported from an overhead crane extending along the ceiling of a maintenance hangar. A respective work platform is provided on each side of the aircraft fuselage, and is supported by a supporting structure hanging from the overhead crane above the aircraft fuselage. An access ladder incorporated in the supporting structure arches over the top of the aircraft to interconnect the work platforms on opposite sides of the aircraft. A clearance spacing between the arrangement and the aircraft is maintained and ensured by photocells that monitor this clearance spacing. The disadvantages discussed above generally apply to this conventional arrangement as well.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a mobile bridge arrangement that is able to provide an unobstructed access simultaneously to all door areas of an aircraft fuselage and particularly a multi-deck large capacity aircraft, and which extends along the lengthwise extension of the aircraft to enable the simultaneous performance of various work procedures on the exterior of the aircraft fuselage. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a bridge arrangement that achieves an advantageous and simplified docking and undocking of the arrangement relative to the aircraft fuselage, while the arrangement also has a simpler construction, reduced manufacturing costs, and a reduced total weight in comparison to the prior known arrangements. The bridge arrangement shall be particularly applicable for facilitating the construction, installation, and outfitting procedures during the final construction stages of an aircraft by allowing an unobstructed access to all of the doors and adjoining fuselage exterior areas of the aircraft fuselage, and simultaneously allowing persons to enter into and exit from the fuselage and goods to be loaded into or unloaded from the fuselage. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to achieve additional advantages, as apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved by a mobile bridge arrangement according to the invention, comprising a plurality of bridge supports, and a plurality of bridge catwalks extending horizontally and parallel to each other and to the lengthwise axis of the fuselage. Two respective catwalks across from each other on opposite sides of the aircraft fuselage form a catwalk pair, which is supported by a respective one of the bridge supports. To achieve this, the bridge supports extend crosswise relative to the lengthwise axis of the fuselage, are spaced apart from each other along the lengthwise axis of the fuselage, and respectively comprise curved structural supporting arches having a curved or arching shape that substantially matches the exterior cross-sectional shape of the aircraft fuselage at the location of the respective bridge support. Thereby, the bridge catwalks on opposite sides of the aircraft are both supported and carried by the bridge supports that arch over the top of the aircraft fuselage.
Once the arrangement is moved into position above the aircraft fuselage, for example by an overhead crane or cable hoist, the arrangement is then lowered down onto the aircraft fuselage. Particularly, at this time, pads or cushions provided on the bottom surface of the arching configuration of the bridge supports rest in contact against the exterior surface of the aircraft fuselage and thereby support the entire weight and load of the bridge supports on the fuselage, or at least brace and secure the bridge supports against the fuselage.